new member question

[aportinastorm]

Hey everyone, been looking over the site for a few months now and finally decided to join. I haven't decided for sure if I am ready to try gear yet or not and was looking for your suggestion. I have been training religiously for about 3 years now 6-7 days a week and rarely deviate from that schedule. In recent months I feel as though I have reached a peak, not necessarily 100% lack of the ability to move up in weight but partially it feels like my joints don't want me to increase in weight. I seem to battle inside elbow pain and shoulder pain recently when lifting heavy and it was suggested to me that this may significantly help with these issues and obviously enhance my body both in strength and size. How do you know when you are ready to take this sort of step?

My stats are:

age-27
height 5'11-6'
weight 195-200lbs

deadlift-350lbs
squat-290
bench-345

Thanks for your help

[auswest]

Hey everyone, been looking over the site for a few months now and finally decided to join. I haven't decided for sure if I am ready to try gear yet or not and was looking for your suggestion. I have been training religiously for about 3 years now 6-7 days a week and rarely deviate from that schedule. In recent months I feel as though I have reached a peak, not necessarily 100% lack of the ability to move up in weight but partially it feels like my joints don't want me to increase in weight. I seem to battle inside elbow pain and shoulder pain recently when lifting heavy and it was suggested to me that this may significantly help with these issues and obviously enhance my body both in strength and size. How do you know when you are ready to take this sort of step?

My stats are:

age-27
height 5'11-6'
weight 195-200lbs

deadlift-350lbs
squat-290
bench-345

Thanks for your help

And you think gaining extra strength and mass in a short time from steroids is going to help your joints... If your joints are struggling now you're in for a shock..

6-7 days a week? you are overtraining... Give your body a break. Get a good diet happening. Plenty of supps for joint health. Lower your weight and work on your form. Steroids are the last thing you want.

[aportinastorm]

what joint supplements would you recommend? I currently take animal flex every day and it seems to help a descent amount with shoulder pain but nothing seems to help with the elbow due to it not being a joint but tendon problem. also I probably should have specified but its five days of weight training(1 body part one day a week roughly) and 1-2 days of cardio so I don't feel that it's an over training issue but then again could be completely mistaken.

[Chuckdiesel]

Well, imo, your half ready. Your of a good age to start and have solid stats to back up steroid use . My only concern if the joint pain...steroids don't help or cure joint pain and in fact since you can lift longer and heavier, that my not be a good idea. Here are my two opinions on the matter at hand. First if your gonna start the juice, drop the weight. Lift lighter, higher rep and focus on building the muscle and connective tissue strength. Constant heavy weights will tear down the body, whether on juice or not. Now my second thing is take a step over to the gh threads and read up on growth hormone releasing peptides. I currently am running ghrp6, ipamorelin, and mod grf 1-29 with 125mg/day test enth. You will get all the info there about these peptides but I will stand by and contest to the power of growth hormone and its ability to help heal pains in muscles and joints. I can firmly say these peptides along with the juice have greatly improved my abilities with training and recovery. As for your original question of when do you know your ready, well thats solely on you. Many will say, and I also believe this, that when you have your body's natural limits and cant put on size or strength anymore naturally, then its time to seek the help of synthetic hormones.

[Chuckdiesel]

And you think gaining extra strength and mass in a short time from steroids is going to help your joints... If your joints are struggling now you're in for a shock..

6-7 days a week? you are overtraining... Give your body a break. Get a good diet happening. Plenty of supps for joint health. Lower your weight and work on your form. Steroids are the last thing you want.

I must strongly agree here...too much training...back off a bit there. Also, how is your diet?

[denverpride]

Probably need to change your legs workout if you really bench that much more than you squat

[aportinastorm]

I really appreciate your time in responding and will go over to that section and do some research. I'd say my diet is definitely better than average, getting plenty of protein but could probably cut back on the fats. When I say fat im not referring to burgers and fries but I do take in a lot of good fats. For my average day of protein I take a few shakes a day, 2 boiled eggs each day, greek yogurt, 8 egg omelet(6 whites 2 whole eggs) 1 chicken breast some cottage cheese and half a gallon of milk and a few portions of almonds. overall a rather health daily intake of protein, however i know quite a few of these such as all the dairy probably should be substituted for a less fatty alternative such as tuna other fish or additional chicken breasts. I'm currently around 10-12 percent body fat and those changes would get me to the 7-9 percent range but wouldn't help muscle growth would it?

[aportinastorm]

Yeah i know about the legs lol, I have no doubt that I could see significant gains in this area naturally but do to knee surgeries in the past I have always kept it fairly light with leg routines and have relied on leg muscle growth from high rep low weight and cardio. Not sure if that is really needed or if im just babying my knee because of mental fear of causing long term damage to a already weakened body part.

[Chuckdiesel]

It seems as if your diet is on par so far brother. Now unless your seriously over indulging in healthy fats, don't cut them out drastically. Healthy fats help your joints and in collagen synthesis significantly, especially your omega fatty acids. Do add some fish every day, they are high in omega 3s and very beneficial. Yes do cut back on your dairy some. I eat about 200 grams of 1% cottage cheese, about 32 oz of 1% milk and 8-10 oz Greek yogurt a day. That's all. As for joints remember supplementation is also very important. Vitamin c is key here. I get around 4-5g of it a day through supplements and diet. I also use msm every day and have been regularly for the last 3 years. I have absolutely no problem with my joints. I'll have to lay out my complete daily diet and supplementation plan for you later today, when I have time lol. The best thing you can do though is drop the weight and increase the reps. I used to hit 315 on the bench for low reps, 4-6, and it gave my shoulder problems. Not joint pain but tendon pain. I switched to hitting 225 for 12+ reps for 5 or more sets and that alleviated the pains there. As far as muscle growth from dietary changes...well you have to figure out what works and doesn't for you. It took me 3 years or so to find what foods affect me the most and then i sculpted it from there. Take your time in playing with different foods to find what affects your joints, energy, and overall well being and create things from there. I'll be able to give ya more time later, when i have the time to do so myself lol

[gonzo6183]

Damn I wish I could bench as high as my deadlift or even my squat...

Back on topic steroids will greatly increase your strength and this will not be a good thing for you injuries, in fact it will likely make them much worse. Go light and work on form while you get those problems sorted out

[aportinastorm]

I really appreciate the feed back and look forward to seeing your complete dietary and supplement plan, thanks.

[Chuckdiesel]

No problem bro...ill put it up as soon as my damn WiFi stops being a punk ass bitch lmao

[Chuckdiesel]

Alright, im g2g...here is my exact diet plan. I do change things subtly depending on mood and if its a workout day or not, but this is primarily what I follow on a day to day.

4:00 a.m. 150mcg ghrp 6
4:30 a.m. 25 grams whey isolate
25 grams karbolyn
5:30 a.m. 4 egg whites w/1 yolk scrambled
75 grams 1% cottage cheese
1 medium/large banana
2 slices ezekiel bread spread w/ butter and peanut butter
8 oz 1% milk
8 oz V8

1g time released vitamin C
99mg potassium asporotate
200mg magnesium malate
100mg B complex
10,000 iu vitamin D
400 iu vitamin E
750mg MSM
1g taurine

8:30 a.m. 9 oz can chunk light tuna drained
100g sweet peas
75g brown rice

99mg potassium asporotate

10:30 a.m. 120mcg ghrp 6

11:30 a.m. 10 oz chicken breast
8-12 oz sweet potato, minus the skin, baked
75g brown rice

1g time released vitamin C
99mg potassium asporotate
50mg B complex
200mg magnesium malate
1g taurine
750mg MSM

2:00 p.m. 4 egg whites w/ 1 yolk scrambled
75g brown rice
1 medium/large banana

99mg potassium asporotate

3:30 p.m. 120mcg ipamorelin
120mcg mod grf 1-29

4:00 p.m. 2 slices ezekiel bread w/ butter and peanut butter
8 oz 1% milk

99mg potassium asporotate
1g time released vitamin C
200mg magnesium malate
1g taurine

6:00 p.m. 10 oz chicken breast
75g brown rice
8:30 p.m. 120mcg ipamorelin
120mcg mod grf 1-29
9:00 p.m. 200g 1% cottage cheese
8 oz 1% milk

Im currently 5 weeks into using 125mg test enth a day, along with all the growth hormone peptides...really great stack together. Sleep, strength and appearance are best ever! This diet is on my non workout days. My workout days I increase my brown rice from 75g to 100g each meal and the 4:00 pm meal is replaced with 12 oz water, 30g whey isolate, 30g karbolyn, 1tsp beta alanine...I also use 25g whey isolate and 25g karbolyn during workout and post workout take...

25 oz water
50g whey isolate
75g karbolyn

I drink at least a gallon of alkalized water, I get that from my chiropractor, each day and workout days it reaches 1.5 gallons or more. I think this pretty much covers my day. I may have missed a couple small details but have the basics of what I do on a daily basis. If ya have any questions pertaining towards anything, please dont hesitate to ask!

[Chuckdiesel]

oh and me being a classic "hardgainer" im not afraid of carbs or fats what so ever. They help greatly in my quest to add muscle!

im 6'4", 205lbs at 7.7% bf